A turboshaft turbine engine may be used to power various components of an aircraft, such as a propeller of a helicopter or a turboprop airplane. Typically, the turboshaft turbine engine includes, for example, an intake section, a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section, and each section may include one or more components mounted to a common shaft. The turboshaft turbine engine may also include an exhaust section that is located downstream from the turbine section.
Generally, the intake section induces air from the surrounding environment into the engine and accelerates the air toward the compressor section. The compressor section, which may include one or more compressors, raises the pressure of the air it receives from the intake section to a relatively high level. The compressed air then enters the combustor section, where a ring of fuel nozzles injects a steady stream of fuel into a plenum. The injected fuel is ignited to produce high-energy compressed air. The air then flows into and through the turbine section to impinge upon turbine blades therein to rotate the shaft. The shaft may be coupled to a propeller or other component, with or without an intervening speed reduction gearbox, and may provide energy for propulsion thereof. The air exiting the turbine section may be exhausted from the engine via the exhaust section.
At times, the engine may experience a loss of load absorption, which may lead to an overspeed condition. In such case, airflow from the combustor section may produce a load upon a turbine that could accelerate the turbine beyond a predetermined maximum operating speed. To minimize the magnitude of the overspeed condition, an electrical system coupled to the engine may cease supplying fuel to the combustor section to decrease the energy and to slow the velocity of the airflow therefrom. Although the aforementioned types of systems are adequate for minimizing overspeed, additional or alternative means of preventing damage to adjacent components during the overspeed condition, if it should occur, may be desired in some circumstances.
Accordingly, it is desirable to include a structure or apparatus in a turbine engine that may be used to prevent damage to adjacent components during an overspeed condition. In addition, it is desirable for the structure or apparatus to be capable of being retrofitted into existing turbine engines and to be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the inventive subject matter will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the inventive subject matter and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the inventive subject matter.